Do the Unthinkable
by CandaMyr
Summary: ...live... An alternate ending to the series that would change the future of more than one person. Won't say more to not spoil the ending for ppl who haven't seen it yet. Main characters: Alex and Sophia.
1. Prologue

Now everything was over. The pain was gone. The suffering ended. As soon as he felt Delphine's neck snap in his grip it all fell away from him like the snow from the sky. The bit of energy he'd conserved for that moment - the moment he'd waited for, worked for, lived for these past ten years - drained from him in an instant. He fell forward until the rose vines restrained his fall, Delphine's lifeless body slipped from his grip to the floor, crumpling at his feet. Limply he hung in his living chains which continued to inject truth serum into his blood stream. There was no escape. He knew it. And he didn't care. Slowly he lifted his head, his listless gaze falling upon the advancing Silvana - his ship, his end. 

"Eurys..."

The detonation of the Silvana's cannon fire shook the Guild ship and explosion after explosion climbed up through the main tube in the center of the vessel. The pressure, a wave of hot air, rushed past him from behind, sweeping Delphine's body down from the platform, tearing at his ties - without severing them. Again he lifted his head, catching a glimpse of blue sky. He smiled. Finally... finally the time had come...

"Sora e..."

Blinding light... and then... nothing...

* * *

"Mou ii, Alex..."

He gasped and his head snapped up, and at the same time he realized it was more of a feeling, a thought, instead of actual sound and action.

"You have done enough... more than enough... all these years..."

Tears stung his eyes - but again, it was only a feeling, a sensation in this vast, blinding nothingness.

"You can let go now..."

It was her voice...

"Eurys!"

"I'm here, Alex..." Her soft voice enveloped him, soothing his tortured soul. Then he felt a pressure against his chest, pushing him away. "But you shouldn't be..."

"Why!" Frantically he tried to go against the pressure that was driving him away, like a swimmer fighting against the current. "Eurys!" Before his mind's eye he saw her falling away... just like ten years ago... "Eurys! EURYS!" His screams vanished without an echo, without even a sound.

"It's alright, Alex." All of a sudden her face was close to his. She was smiling. In her soft brown eyes was no fear or accusation, no sadness, just a deep peacefulness. "It's alright now, Alex."

He shook his head in confusion, not even trying to fight back the sobs rising in his throat. "I don't understand..." He'd been ready for eternal peace and eternal rest after pursuing revenge for so long. Would he be denied now?

"Not denied, Alex." Her fingers brushed against his cheek. At least it was a sensation like it. "Just presented differently than you thought, you silly, single-minded man." A soft chuckle filled the sheer whiteness around him. "You are so negative, Alex. What kind of person do you think I am?"

He frowned, confused.

"Do you think I enjoyed seeing you go down the dark path of revenge? Do you think I wanted you to live only for the memory of me, haunted by the memory of me? Do you really think I wanted you to suffer?" Even though her words were intense, her voice was soft and gentle. "I love you, Alex. I love you so much, I wanted nothing more than for you to have a life in happiness - even if I couldn't be part of it. And you went and threw it away..." There was sadness now. Her tone conveyed hurt and disappointment. "You gave up right after, didn't you? You died right there with me. You just went on existing, instead of living. And even that only to work towards executing your revenge." She paused, then, her voice thick with grief, "I didn't think you were that weak..."

There was nothing he could say. His throat was tight. All he could do was stare at her slowly fading image.

"If you ever loved me, Alex, let go... live... and leave more behind of yourself than just a memory..." She smiled again. Then she pushed him away.

* * *

"Yo..."

Fingers brushed against his cheek and forehead, across his eyes and the bridge of his nose. Wet, cold twilight was replaced by a stinging, freezing brightness. His brows drew together and he squinted his eyes - even though they were closed anyway.

"Ha! Look!"

A female voice... He frowned again, straining to hear it more clearly, hoping...

"Told ya!"

A stab of disappointment made him groan in almost physical pain... no, not just almost... there was pain... real pain... He sucked in the air with a hiss. Pain shot through him, spreading through his veins like a wildfire, searing through every fiber of his body. He exhaled in a long moan, features twisted in anguish.

"Ojiisan..."

A gentle small hand was placed on his chest, feather light, soothing, calming. He sighed. "Eurys..." he whispered, even though he knew it couldn't be her. She had refused him. Denied him entry into her world. Tears stung the inside of his eyelids, the wet warmth pressing through his lashes, leaving scalding paths down the sides of his face. Unvoiced sobs wracked his body until he couldn't hold them in anymore - and the pain multiplied... physically... emotionally... "Eurys... Eurys..."

"Shh..."

Suddenly his head and shoulders were enveloped in soothing warmth with gentle pressure, one hand resting on his chest, the other hand's fingers combing through his hair.

"It's alright... It's alright now..." It was a whisper close to his ear, warm breath fanned his cheek. The painful sobs ebbed away, the agonizing tension drained from him, and he drifted into the welcome darkness of unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 1

CHAPTER I

Voices... A multitude of voices... Sometimes brash, sometimes hushed... All of them very real, none of them hers...

"The weather is changing drastically. Hard to believe it's only been a few days..."

"Yeah, it's great. We actually get to see the color green again."

"The animals sure seem confused though... I mean, the rabbits can't change out of their white fur quick enough to stay hidden from the foxes..."

Laughter.

"Well, at least that means we get some of them too, easier than usual."

"Speaking of which, we have rabbit stew for dinner tonight. With fresh vegetables from Anatoray."

"Hey, did you hear? Some people from Anatoray are settling here."

"That's great!"

"What's so great about it? Now that the perma frost disappears again, now they come here."

"Hey! Quite a few of us got here before they took down the Guild... don't forget that! And we've been your neighbors for what? five years? before the land became completely unhospitable."

"You don't count. You were prisoners of war - that happened to like it here..."

More laughter. All of a sudden, silence. Then a hushed, "Where do you think /he's/ from?"

The man from Anatoray answered, "Not from Deusis, that's for sure."

"But his uniform doesn't look Anatorian."

"No. It's..." Pause, then in an even more hushed tone, "It's from the Silvana."

A gasp ran through the room.

"You mean... from the ship that took down THE Guild ship?"

"He means the renegade ship, the first ship powered by a Guild independent Claudia unit, the only ship that never belonged to anyone but its captain, the Silvana of the Genocide..."

Dead silence.

After a long pause the man from Anatoray spoke again, "I've met him once... the captain of the Silvana... Alex Row..." He sighed. "Most people hated him, either because they didn't know him, or because they were afraid of him. But his crew would die for him, any time, for any cause." Another sigh. "Just yesterday I met a tech from the Silvana... he left the ship, said there's no need for a renegade ship in times of peace, no good use, and it won't be the same anyway now that Alex Row is dead..."

Silence again. Everybody seemed submersed in their own thoughts.

"Who do you think /he/ was on the ship? Tech? Engineer? Higher up?"

"Dunno..." There was a long pause. Someone came closer, there was the rustling of clothes. Then suddenly, "Oh shit... It's him..."

"What?" The other people moved closer, some rushed, some hesitant. "What are you talking about?"

"It's him... Alex Row..."

* * *

Slowly Vincent walked up the hill. His eyes were fixed on the back of the person standing up there looking out into the skies. He sighed. He knew he'd find her here. Even though she seemed to have let go, seemed to have gone on with her life, she kept coming back here. She always wore a smile when she came back to the palace. In the beginning Vincent had often wondered where she had been that it brought this odd melancholic yet happy smile to her face. Until he had followed her secretly - and found her here, up on this hill. He had realized a lot of things in that moment...

"Your Majesty...?"

She wasn't startled, he could tell. Calmly she turned around to face him. He wondered since when she knew he was there, or even since when she knew he was following her here every time. She'd never mentioned it. And he had to admit it pained him to know that she didn't seem to care.

"Yes, Vincent?" Her voice was gentle, her expression soft. He did not dilude himself to think it was meant for him. Someone else occupied her thoughts and caused this expression.

"The preparations for the domestic inspection are completed." He kept his tone formal. "You are expected to depart any time now."

"Thank you. I will be there in a short while." She turned away. "Please go ahead. I will follow soon."

"Your Majesty..." Vincent backed away, still watching her, and therefore seeing how she knelt down in front of the memorial site, how she leaned forward to place a kiss on the cold marble of the headstone commemorating the life and death of Alex Row.

His heart ached. For himself. And for her...


End file.
